My stomach clenched and my tail thumped against the floor. “You ate garbage?”
She shrugged, the look on her face one of resignation rather than shame. “Yeah. You do what you have to, to survive, right?”
When I didn’t reply, she continued. “Anyway, one of the uppers caught on to what I was doing, he probably had security cameras or whatever, and one night when I was going through his garbage, he came charging out of his house in his bathrobe with a gun in his hand and screaming he was gonna kill me.”
She shook her head. “The crazy bastard started shooting at me, so I took off for the woods. There was a chain link fence with a gate separating the neighbourhood from the forest, but I wasn’t anywhere near the gate and for an upper, the dude could move fast.”
She laughed. “I wasn’t exactly an expert at climbing fences or anything, but I scaled that sucker like a first-rate rock climber. But the barb wire that ran along the top of it sliced open my shin as I was hauling my skinny ass over it.”
She rubbed absentmindedly at the scar. “I made it back to the treehouse and tore up a blanket to wrap my leg and stop the bleeding, but I didn’t have the money to go to the hospital. I holed up for a few days in the treehouse to let it heal, but I probably should have gotten stitches. I’m super lucky I didn’t get an infection from it. But it took forever to stop bleeding so maybe that’s why? Maybe it bled all the bad stuff out. I was really weak by the time it clotted though. I could barely climb the rope ladder to get in and out of the treehouse.”
I shook my head when she held out the container of warracot toward me. After hearing her talk about almost being shot, of almost bleeding to death, I wasn’t sure I’d ever eat again. My stomach was in knots and I couldn’t understand how or why Ellis was being so casual about nearly dying.
What happened then?” I said.
“Well, the guy told the cops I was in the forest and they showed up a few days later and sent the dogs in, so I had to leave. That was actually scarier than the guy with the gun because I couldn’t run as fast with my injured leg, you know? I got lucky though and got the hell out before the dogs got a good whiff of my scent.”
She studied my face before saying, “You okay? You look kind of sick to your stomach.”
“I still do not understand how you survived,” I said.
“It wasn’t all doom and gloom,” she said. “For a while I was friends with a group of people, and we all looked out for each other. Torra was the one who taught me how to boost… uh, how to repair ships and other machinery. She was really good at stuff like that. Her dad was a mechanic and he taught her a bunch of mechanical stuff before he died. I worked at a repair shop for a guy named Horace. He was good to me and paid a decent wage. But that was only for a few months.”
“What happened then?”
“Uh,” she cleared her throat, “business got a little lean and he couldn’t afford to keep me employed.”
“Why were you homeless in the first place? Where were your parents?” I said.
Her face closed off faster than a lokena could run. “We don’t have a relationship. I left home when I was sixteen and I haven’t talked to them since.”
“Why?”
She just shrugged. “What about you? Do you have family?”
“My father died when I was twelve. My mother is still alive and lives in the city. She remarried shortly after my father died.”
“That sucks,” Ellis said. “Why did your mother remarry so quickly?”
“She is human and at that time, human females weren’t allowed to work outside of their home. She either needed to remarry or return to Earth. She chose to stay here because she wanted me to grow up on my home planet.”
“Holy shit.” Ellis was staring at me like I’d grown a second tail. “You’re half-human.”
“I am,” I said. “Most of the Draax around my age are half human. Some are not. Quill’s mother was a Draax as was Krey’s, but they were each one of the last of our females, and on the older side. Quill’s mother was a decade older than his father and Krey’s mother was two decades older than his father.”
“Wow,” she said. “You really don’t look half-human. Are any of you ever born, um, human coloured?”
“No,” I said. “Our young ones are always green or purple. We carry the dominant genes.”
“Oh, cool,” Ellis said. “Do you like your stepdad?”
“No,” I said. I didn’t want to talk about my past or my family. It was too painful and there was no point. My father had been a liar and a terrible mate to my mother, and he had cost us our home. Thinking about the loss of my childhood home made me feel sick.
“Are you okay?” Ellis said. “Seriously, I know it’s kind of hard to tell since you’re already green around the old gills, but you really do kind of look like you might throw up.”
“I am fine,” I said. “I no longer wish to speak of personal things.”
“Sure, okay. I get it.” She didn’t seem upset with me, but I didn’t know her very well. She glanced at the door. “Hey, do you have time to show me the garden? I’d really like to see it.”
A big part of me wanted to say no. The garden would be full of other males and the thought of them staring at her while all she wore was my shirt, angered me. But I couldn’t resist the way the little female was staring so hopefully at me, so I shoved aside my misgivings and nodded.
“Yes, we can walk in the garden for a while.”
* * *
Ellis
“Congratulations, human. You are cancer free.”
I hopped off the hospital bed and joined Sigan at the scanner. I stared at the hologram screen in front of him. “Are you being serious right now?”
“Why would I joke about this?” Sigan pointed to the hologram screen. “Your lungs are clear, no spots remain on your internal organs, and the tumour is gone from your spine.”
“Holy shit,” I said.
“You healed much quicker than I anticipated,” Sigan said. “Considering how malnourished you are and how big the tumour was, I am surprised it only took a week.”
“It’s gone,” I said. “It’s fucking gone!”
I shrieked with excitement and threw my arms around Sigan, hugging him hard. Sigan grunted in shock before patting my back awkwardly. I grinned up at him, my small body still pressed against his. “Thank you, Sigan. You have no idea what… ow!”
A long green tail had wrapped around my waist and was squeezing painfully. Before I could reach for it, the tail tightened, and I was yanked from Sigan’s grip and up against the body of an equally tall, muscular Draax.
I stared up at the familiar face as his arm joined his tail around my waist. “Galan? What the hell?”
Galan had been standing at the door to the infirmary, looking at something on his tablet and holy shit, how fast and quiet was he to move across the entire infirmary like that without me hearing him?
“Do not touch the little female, Sigan. Ever,” Galan said.
The easygoing nature I had grown to expect from Galan was gone. In its place was a hard and angry warrior. Anxiety laced with just the slightest hint of excitement filled my body. I tugged on his tail. “Hey, knock it off with the tail.”
“Do you hear me, Sigan?” Galan said. “Do not touch her.”
“I heard you, Galan,” Sigan said. Despite Galan’s anger, he didn’t seem that concerned. “She was the one who hugged me. Besides, you know I have no sexual interest in the human. She weighs less than a maluken for Krono’s sake. Her fragile bones would crack under my weight.”
“Enough with the fragile bones thing,” I said. “I’m not fragile.”
“I enjoy intense and vigorous fucking and you are too skinny for that,” Sigan said. “If we fucked, you would -”
“Speak about fucking her again and I will cut out your tongue,” Galan snarled.
A brief flicker of fear crossed Sigan’s face before he scowled at Galan. “Control your temper, Galan. The manner in which y
ou conduct yourself is unbecoming for the head of the King’s Guard. And release the female before you crack her ribs and I have to give her more gallberry juice.”
Galan’s tail relaxed a fraction as Sigan turned and stalked to his lab at the back of the infirmary. He slammed the door shut behind him and I glared at Galan. “You were super rude to Sigan.”
“Come, little female,” Galan said. His tail still around my waist, he walked toward the infirmary door and I had no choice but to follow him or be dragged behind him like a disobedient child.
“Hey, I thought we were going for a walk in the garden,” I said, when he walked down the hallway toward my living quarters instead.
“Not now,” Galan said.
“Why not?”
He didn’t reply and I stopped and tried to dig my heels in, snorting with frustration when my bare feet just slid along the stone floor. “You’re being an asshole.”
He completely ignored me and after a few seconds, I started walking again, jogging to catch up with him. “At least tell me why we’re suddenly not going to the garden.”
“I am busy today,” he said. “I do not have time to escort you for a walk.”
“Okay, I get that, but can’t we ask someone else to escort me? Adrix seemed nice when he brought me lunch the other day. Maybe we could ask him to -”
“You would prefer Adrix’s company over mine?” Galan glanced back at me with hurt on his face.
“What? I didn’t say that. I’m just saying that I know you’re busy so maybe someone else could walk with me in the garden.”
He huffed out another angry snort before stopping in front of my door and yanking it open. “Inside, little female.”
“Oh my God,” I said when his tail practically tossed me into my apartment before releasing me. I turned to face him, my hands on my hips. “What is your damn problem, Galan?”
“I do not have a problem,” he said.
“Then why can’t I go for a walk in the garden? I’m cancer free for God’s sake and I wouldn’t mind celebrating. If Adrix is busy, let me ask Sigan. I know he takes a walk in the garden every day and -”
Galan stomped forward and I backed up until my ass hit the wall, staring wide-eyed at him as he braced his hands on the wall on either side of my head and penned me in. “And you prefer Sigan’s company to mine. Is that right, human?”
“What?”
“First you hug him and then you ask that he take you to the garden instead of me.”
“You just said you don’t have time to go to the garden with me, that’s why I suggested Sigan,” I said. “Why are you acting so crazy?”
“Why did you hug Sigan instead of me?” he said.
I stared at him with my mouth open. “I don’t – I mean, he was right there, and I was excited, so I hugged him.”
What almost looked like a pout crossed Galan’s face. “Did you enjoy hugging him?”
“I didn’t… not enjoy it?” I said.
Galan’s face turned a dark green and his tail lashed out against the wall with two harsh thuds. “You are not allowed to fuck Sigan.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “I hug him and now you think I’m going to fuck him? What is up with you today? Did you get hit in the head during sword training this morning?”
“My head is fine,” Galan snapped. “You are not to go around hugging other Draax males. It will give them the wrong impression and they will pursue you for mating purposes.”
“Okay, now I know you have a concussion or something. No Draax wants to mate with me,” I said. “And the reason I didn’t hug you is because any time I’ve gotten even remotely close to you this week, you flinch and get all stiff and weird and act like you’re gonna poke me with your sword.”
His face went even darker and I glanced first at his crotch and then at the actual sword hanging around his waist. “I mean poking me with your actual sword. Not your dick sword. I mean… I’m not asking you to poke me with your dick sword. Or your real sword.”
Ellis. Please stop talking now.
I closed my mouth and folded my arms across my chest. Truth be told, this was the closest I’d been to Galan since he’d carried me around my first day here. The heat of his big body was making my insides get weirdly mushy. My nipples felt tight and swollen and I had the strangest urge to step forward and rub my tits against him, just to see what effect it would have on him.
He'd run for the goddamn Draax hills, Ellis, and you know it. Galan is a nice guy, but he’s not attracted to you. He keeps two feet of space between you at all times and if you get any closer…
I sighed inwardly. If I got any closer, he did exactly what I just accused him of doing. He got flinchy and weird and an almost panicked look would cross his face. I was used to the Draax finding me ugly, but Galan’s reaction seemed over the top.
“I do not get weird,” Galan said.
“Uh, yeah, you do.” I touched his chest, my palm resting against his heart.
He immediately stepped away, his tail lashing back and forth and the flush in his face deepening until the colour of his skin was a rich forest green.
I swallowed down the ridiculous hurt that made my throat tight and said, “See?”
His nostrils flaring, Galan stalked out of my apartment. I hurried after him, stopping near the doorway. “Galan, will you ask Adrix to escort me to the garden?”
“No,” he snapped before slamming the door and locking it.
“Jackass!” I stormed across my small apartment and hurled myself onto the bed. “What a jerk. It’s like the happiest day of my life and he’s ruining it.”
I screamed into my pillow before flipping onto my back and staring up at the ceiling. I had no idea what the hell Galan’s problem was with me today, but I needed to forget about him and concentrate on my plan.
I’d been laying low for the last week, being a good little human and doing exactly what I was told, but that was about to change. Now that the cancer was healed and I didn’t have to worry about them withholding the gallberry juice as punishment, I was breaking out of my admittedly comfortable prison and exploring the castle. I had no idea when the war would end, but I needed to come up with a strategy for escaping the castle the second it ended.
I slid off the bed and grabbed my backpack out of the closet, digging through it until my fingers touched the small leather case. I carried it over to the door and knelt in front of the lock. It was a simple pin and tumbler lock and I grinned to myself. Jesus, this was almost too easy.
I opened the leather case and took out my tension wrench and one of my hook picks. I slid the tension wrench into the lock and carefully used the hook pick to lift the pins one by one. The last pin lifted, and I used the wrench to turn the lock, my grin widening when it clicked open.
“I still got it,” I said before opening the door and peeking out into the hallway. It was empty and I shut the door and studied the kitchenette before hurrying over and opening the cupboard under the sink. I grabbed the bottle of cleaner and a rag.
The odds of me not running into a Draax in the hallway were pretty much zero, but if they saw the cleaning supplies in my hands, they would probably think I was one of the women working in the castle.
Wearing nothing but Galan’s shirt?
Shit. I’d forgotten about that. I set the cleaner and rag on the table and grabbed a large bath towel from the closet. Using a knife, I started a small rip in the towel and then yanked hard, tearing a strip of fabric from the towel.
I tied the strip around my waist and tugged on the shirt until the fabric overlapped the strip of towel tied around my waist. I checked in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door.
“Not bad, Ellis. Not bad,” I said.
With the fabric overlapping the towel tie, it looked like I was wearing a shirt and skirt combo… if the shirt and skirt were the exact same colour.
I shrugged and grabbed my cleaning supplies. It would have to do. Besides, I doubted many of the Draax were fashionistas on huma
n clothing. Not to mention that most of them wouldn’t give my skinny ass a second look.
I took two deep breaths, opened the door, and stepped into the hallway. It was still empty, and I closed my door and walked briskly down the corridor and turned left. I headed in the direction of the garden and the infirmary, since it was basically the only route I knew.
Ahead of me at a t-juncture, I could hear voices and froze for only a moment before I straightened my back.
Act like you belong here, Ellis.
As two Draax turned the corner, I made a show of wiping at a spot on the wall with the rag. I smiled at them as they walked closer. They were staring curiously at me and I said, “Good afternoon, gentleman. Lovely day for cleaning, isn’t it?”
“Hello, human,” the one on the left said.
The one on the right studied my legs. Now that I’d done a bit of adjustments to Galan’s shirt, you could actually see my knees and the Draax stared at the scar on my leg until the one on the left elbowed him.
“Have a nice day,” I said and walked down the hallway and around the corner. I released my breath in a pent-up rush. Ignoring the way my knees were trembling, I hurried down the hallway to the next corner.
I passed by the infirmary and the garden without seeing another Draax. I was thankful for my luck but at the same time – did this damn place not have any exits? How freaking big was this castle anyway?
Ten minutes and countless corridors later, I was hopelessly lost and no closer to finding an exit.
“Holy fuck,” I muttered, “there’s gotta be an exit somewhere or a front door for God’s sake. They don’t just parachute in through the open ceiling in the garden.”
The problem, I decided, was that I was still in what appeared to be the living quarters section of the castle. Every door I’d tried in the random hallways was locked and on occasion, I could hear voices behind doors as I walked past them. I needed to go back to the garden and try a different corridor, one that didn’t lead to living quarters.
Rebel (The Draax Series Book 3) Page 10